I Am Responsible – October 2016

Ms. Heras is a dedicated teacher at an anonymous school in New York. Like most teachers, she spends much of her energy for the well-being of her students. Each year the class takes an end of the year trip to apply what they’ve learned during the school year. This year is no different. Ms. Heras, uninterested in typical fundraisers involving candy or chocolate, came across our fundraiser and voting campaign. Enthusiasm ensued as she realized she had another option to raise money. In fact, she soon learned that registering for the Every Kid Votes campaign and Statue of Responsibility Fundraiser involved topics about civic responsibility and the building of a historic international icon. It was the perfect fit. However, Ms. Heras was curious to see if she’d get the same excited reaction from the students.

When she presented the concept to her class, she was pleased to see the students were delighted! According to her, the students got more excited about the Statue than ‘Dress Up’ or ‘Crazy Hair’ day. Ms. Heras, a veteran teacher, has never before seen this kind of passion towards a cause in all her years of teaching. She claims, ‘The students feel a type of pride one feels when they can be a part of something bigger than themselves.’

The students got to work right away on registering for the Fundraiser (statuefund.org). Ms. Heras commented on the ease of registration. “Our tech-savvy students need only a laptop, and they can do anything!” After getting registered for the fundraiser, the class began the lessons on the “Every Kid Votes!” website. To date, the classroom has raised over $650. Mr.s Heras adds, “This is just the beginning.” She says many students have set goals to visit The Statue of Responsibility someday.

She also adds, “Responsibility has never been needed more!” The EveryKidVotes lessons show many examples of responsible citizens. The children get excited to collect tokens as part of the lessons activities. More importantly, they feel honored to be a part of history; Ms. Heras feels grateful for the funds it will raise for her classroom, and they all look forward to the mock election. It’s a win/win for everybody!

Even the parents have gotten involved. Ms. Heras shared a response from one of them. The parent stated,

“After sending the email invitation out to friends and family on Saturday, we are $5 away from our goal two days later! (Student’s name) is thrilled to check her email each morning to find out if any donations came in overnight.

She is quite excited about this project and is very proud to be associated with something real… something she realizes as nationally, and globally, important as the presidential election…The Statue of Responsibility.

Personally, I am excited to become involved, in the early stages, to bring the Statue of Responsibility to life. I hope to see it built very soon and dream of taking a trip to see it in person with (student’s name) and our family.”

Thank you, Ms. Heras, for the fine work you are doing and the great example of Responsibility you are!

Here’s another example of impressive fundraising. Wesley decided to create a video, and post it to Youtube to accomplish his fundraising goal. Great job Wesley!